Got Sugar? Idaho Does, Though You’d Never Guess It

November 9th, 2007 categories: Down to Earth Information

DSCN0003 Driving in the Idaho countryside any fall day and you may get stuck behind a huge truck filled with large grey-colored lumps. They are bigger than potatoes, and definitely not onions. You may even come across huge piles of these lumpy dirt-like produce waiting for processing.

Little do most people realize these vegetables are one of the most important crops in Idaho, the lowly sugar beet.

I don’t think I’m the only person who thought all sugar came from Hawaii or some tropical climate.

Sugar beets have been grown in Idaho since 1903 and are a vital cash crop in all the irrigated areas of the Snake River Valley.

The plume of steam visible across much of the Valley signals that the sugar beet season is in full swing at the processing plant in Nampa. This is where they turn the dirty gray, lumpy root vegetable into pure white sugar sold in stores.

The sugar beet is Idaho’s fourth-largest crop based on revenue, behind potatoes, hay and wheat. Consumers know cane sugar, not realizing that half of America’s sugar comes from beets, though the two taste the same.

You won’t see a sugar beet on any Idaho license plate or glassy brochure promoting Idaho’s ag business. And after seeing a sugar beet, you will know why.

Tags: Sugar+beet, Idaho, agriculture